Share This Story!

Age has no limits for 'Buzz' racers

Some racers are far apart in age, but come together under one sport. Drivers, young and old, started their engines and made last minute adjustments on Friday for Buzz on Pigeon Creek at Norfork Lake in Mountain Home, Ark.

Story Highlights

Some racers are divided by generations in age, but come together under one sport. Drivers, young and old, started their engines and made last-minute adjustments on Friday for the "Buzz on Pigeon Creek" National Boat Racing Association Championships at Norfork Lake.

As drivers took turns making practice runs, 12-year-old Tab Hebert, of Slaughter, La., was standing waist-deep in the water, watching his father and cousin do some motor work while preparing for their own races.

This is Tab's first year racing boats, and he is the youngest driver entered at Pigeon Creek for nationals.

"I've been going to races, well ... since as long as I can remember, actually," he said Friday.

Tab will be competing this weekend in the novice class, the second race he's ever been in. He has been testing since he was 11 and enjoys the sport.

"Whenever you get fast enough, you're basically flying right above the water," he said.

While Tab and his family prepared, 86-year-old Burt Hoefs stood further down the shore working on his own hydroplane boat for practice, with the help of two friends. Hoefs, of Stockton, Mo., has been racing since the 1950s.

"I had a couple friends who were fishermen. They liked to go fishing, but they'd start racing their fishing boats all the time," he said. "So I decided to sell my fishing boat and get a specially designed boat for racing. That's how it started. I run onto some money that enabled me to buy a racing boat."

Today, a hydroplane boat can cost $3,000 to $5,000. Hoefs says boats in the 1950s were only $400 to $500. But now, boats are twice as fast as they used to be.

Physically, boat racing can be hard on the body, he says. Hoefs has some arthritis in his back and shoulders from age, but it doesn't stop him from racing.

"You want to make sure your back muscles and your shoulder muscles are in pretty good shape," he said.

Hoefs arrived alone to compete on Pigeon Creek, but noted being among friends he sees again and again at boat races.

"The other thing about boat racing is you meet these people, like 30, 40 years ago, and they still come every weekend," Hoefs said. "So you go out together and you eat together, and you compare modifications on your equipment and whatever runs better. And then you exchange motors and propellers, you borrow each other's propellers to see which one works the best."